THE ACQUISITION OF CUE PROPERTIES BY SOCIAL AND NONSOCIAL EVENTS

Abstract

64 second graders learned to attend to either E or a light panel for cues to solve a discrimination task. On a second task, either the same stimulus or the alternative stimulus provided relevant cues. A significant (P < .001) difference was found, in both errors and trials to criterion on Task 2, between Ss who were shifted to the alternative and those who had the same stimulus on both tasks. Also, the lights were found to be the more salient cue, being easier to learn to attend to on Task 1. Results are discussed in terms of the role of attention in social reinforcer effectiveness, and some implications for the study of imitation are presented.